1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to nanoengineered materials and more particularly to computer designed nanoengineered materials for separation of dissolved species.
2. State of Technology
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2005/0067341 by Dennis H. Green, George D. Piegols, John A. Lombardi, and Gary Joseph Herbert for a Continuous Production Membrane Water Treatment Plant and Method for Operating Same, published Mar. 31, 2005, provides the following state of technology information, “With water shortages and environmental protection gaining global importance, membrane treatment of contaminated waters is becoming more widespread. Membranes can separate effectively suspended solids, entrained oils and greases, dissolved solids, and dissolved organics, and produce a low contaminant-content permeate water. Membranes can also conserve reagent-loaded matrix waters for recycle and recover valuable metals from metal-loaded waters.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,841,068 to Sung Ro Yoon, Soon Sik Kim, Hoon Hyung, and Young Hoon Kim issued Jan. 11, 2005 for a domestic nanofiltration membrane based water purifier without a storage tank provides the following state of technology information, “In step with industrial progress, water pollution and water resources scarcity are emerging as severe problems. Because of industrial advancement, population growth, and increased standards of living, the demand to good quality water is increasing rapidly. However, water pollution due to domestic waste or industrial sewage has become a serious problem and therefore, available water has become scarce. In order to utilize limited water resources efficiently, purification treatment is absolutely necessary before drinking natural water is to be consumed, in addition to the removal of sources of water pollution. Conventional water purifiers take forms of different kinds of purification systems depending on filter type. At present, the purification system using a filtration membrane is considered to be the most effective because it can eliminate impurities including minute substances such as bacteria and heavy metals. As representative filtration membranes for use in water purifiers, there exist an ultrafiltration membrane, a nanofiltration membrane and a reverse osmosis membrane. Among them, the ultrafiltration membrane is used to remove mainly colloid-sized substances. Although it can provide a high flow rate due to larger pore size than those of the nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes, there is a limit to elimination of minute substances such as bacteria and heavy metals.”
The article “Helping Water Managers Ensure Clean and Reliable Supplies” in the July/August 2004 issue of Science & Technology Review provides the following state of technology information, “One of the most important tasks for California water managers is to protect the purity of groundwater, which supplies about half of the state's drinking water. However, since 1988, about one-third of the state wells that supply public drinking water have been abandoned, destroyed, or inactivated, frequently because they have been contaminated with nitrate from fertilized farmland, dairies, feedlots, and septic tanks.”